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You may be seeing more of them flying around – the unmanned aerial vehicles or drones. As Matt Galka tells us, lawmakers tried to get a hold of regulations on the technology…with mixed reactions from users.

Drone technology is taking off around the state.

Gerald Tookes is an avid flyer. Sometimes he’ll use his drone to get different angles on photos he takes of his friends and family.

“Of course one of the cool things you can always do is a selfie,” he says with a smile.

But drone photos caused some lawmakers to worry in 2015. This past legislative session lawmakers said they didn’t want to stand in the way of technology, but they did have privacy concerns.

A bill currently awaiting action from the Governor will ban taking pictures of private properties or people without consent.

“There is a learning curve to get people to understand what it is because of privacy concerns, libertarian concerns, and always big brother watching,” said Sen. Garrett Richter (R-Naples) in April of 2015.

Drone enthusiast Rob Hall says the wording can put people like him at risk.

“If I go just go up in my backyard and I happen to be flying around testing my camera, and I point in the general direction of one of my neighbors, I could be held accountable for invading their privacy, even though I’m not invading their privacy and it’s just incidental,” he said.

Tookes says with state and federal regulation, it will come down to one thing for hobbyists.

“They can be a really cool tool to have for any kind of production, but as they always say just fly responsibly,” he says.

The law will take effect July 1^st if it’s signed by the Governor.

The bill provides exemptions for law enforcement and other state licensed businesses or professions – however users will point out that there is currently no state licensing procedures for drones.